Acting Managing Director of NEPZA, Terhemba Nongo, told newsmen in Abuja that the new zones also have the capacity to create about 3 million indirect jobs with the right investments.
“The President has established seven new trade zones; one in Lekki, Ilorin, Makurdi, Sokoto and yet to be agreed location in North-East and South-East, and one in Ebonyi State, which we are yet to get the site.
“The design of four of the industrial parks are almost completed. We will provide infrastructures in these zones and with the right investment each of the zone will provide a minimum of 50,000 direct jobs and when multiplied by seven, that will be 350,000, and indirect jobs of about 3 million,” he said.
While saying that the construction of each zone will cost between N50 billion to N80 billion, Nongo said with right funding, the projects could be completed within two years.
Speaking further, the NEPZA boss said the country stand to gain a lot from the projects as it will not only recoup its investments in a short period of time but will further attract massive Foreign Direct Investments.
On the Calabar Free Trade Zone, Nongo said about N5 billion will be needed to construct Independent Power Plant to service its activities while about N10 billion will be enough to complete all infrastructural projects in Kano Free Zone.
He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for ensuring more funding for NEPZA, adding that N50 billion was allocated to the Authority in the 2017 budget, with the same feat repeated in the 2018 appropriation.
Nongo, who appealed for support to ensure that Nigeria reaps the benefit of trade zones, gave an example of Ethiopia, which expended over N100 billion on an industrial park within 12 months and will be reaping 1 billion dollars per year from the investment in no too distant time.
HARRISON EDEH,ABUJA
